Priebus: Obama Campaigns Against Free Markets

President Barack Obama has made it clear that he will run a campaign against our own free market capitalist system, says Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC).

Obama stated publicly Tuesday that the race will be about attacks against GOP nominee Mitt Romney and other job creators, Priebus writes on Politico. “These attacks on free enterprise reveal more than just the end of ‘hope and change.’ They reveal a president unacquainted with the free market — and therefore hostile to it.”

Obama’s tactics are so harsh that even some Democrats are “recoiling in disgust,” Priebus says. “Until now, it was unthinkable that the president would base his campaign on undermining the nation’s confidence in our free market system.”

But maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising, given that Obama already has implemented policies that limit economic growth and job creation, the RNC chief says.

“From ‘Obamacare’ to excessive regulation, from anti-growth tax policy to stimulus handouts, the Obama administration has left the free market battered and bruised. Its misguided attempts at top-down job creation have not worked. In many cases, they have backfired.”

Obama has offered government assistance to unworthy companies such as the failed solar panel maker Solyndra, Priebus says. “In total, Obama’s Energy Department squandered billions on risky bets, a large share of which had ties to Obama’s allies and fundraisers. All the while, Obama made it harder for companies not looking for handouts to succeed.”

Romney has succeeded in the private sector, while Obama hasn’t, Priebus notes. “His understanding of the economy is guided — or misguided — by that lack of real-world economic experience.” What we need now is “a president who understands how to cultivate our free market system so that job creators can thrive,” Priebus says.